Amnesty International reported Friday that an acquittal of 87 individuals, including protestors, journalists, and lawyers, reveals an endemic misuse of the criminal justice system by the Turkish government and authorities.

Those acquitted had originally been arrested and detained for eight months following the police response to largely peaceful protests held between March 19 and 26. These protests took place as a response to the pre-trial detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. İmamoğlu was arrested on several charges of bribery, embezzlement, money laundering, extortion and tender rigging. Nearly 2,000 people were arrested during the protests.

Further, governorates such as Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara, and Mansia issued pre-emptive bans on assemblies, with Istanbul also restricting entry to and exit from the province.

These blanket bans themselves were challenged in an initial investigation released by Amnesty International. The bans were supposedly instated under Article 11/C of the Law on Provincial Administration and Article 15/H of the Law on Police Duties and Powers. However, Amnesty International’s investigation found that 15/H does not actually exist.

The police force used on protestors was further described as a breach of international human rights law in the report. Amnesty International, after speaking to detainees, found that unlawful force, such as beating and kicking of prisoners, as well as the use of tear gas, pepper spray, and kinetic impact projectiles, led to injuries.

Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) protects the right to peaceful assembly.The text differentiates peaceful protest from “rioting,” as authorities called the March protests. It states: “Isolated instances of such conduct will not suffice to taint an entire assembly as non-peaceful.” The ICCPR additionally protects the protestors’ rights to life and freedom from torture or ill-treatment.

Another trial to be held on the same day as the acquittals was that of 13 protesters charged with “insulting the president.” This trial was postponed until May 2026. A lawyer representing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan requested that the court find the defendants guilty of the charge, because “his honor had been damaged by the actions of the defendants.”

Amnesty International’s deputy regional director the Balkans and Turkey, Dinushka Disanayake, said: “Whilst the acquittal of these 87 peaceful protesters, eight journalists and four lawyers is welcome, it does beg the question as to why they were put through this eight-month ordeal in the first place.”